Redemption
by Chikuma Shiratori
Summary: The story of a girl and a "Predator". Sorry, no spoilers in thes review, must read! Please review!
1. Flame in the wind

My whole life I didn't belong.

In Elementary school I was the most picked on kid. Not that eat-boogers-messy-hair-smells-bad-and-pretends-to-be-a-dump-truck-at-recess kid. No, even he got more respect that me. I was the odd one out. I was the only one in the school with red hair.

No, not red. Orange is more like it. Not even like a natural color orange. It was like solar flare orange. Add that to a gangly figure and a daily kool-aid stained mouth, and I was just begging to be picked on.

Even the boys beat me up.

Once, out of generosity I suppose, a boy decided to tell me a hilarious joke.

"Hey, Rusty!"

I remember cringing at my nickname, but still turning to face him, eyes down.

"Hey, know what they serve at parties?"

"….n-no.." I had said. Of course I didn't know, are you kidding! I didn't even know what a party really consisted of. I was so withdrawn from the world. How was I supposed to know what they served at parties!?

"They serve Fruit PUNCH!" he exclaimed loudly as he decked me right in my left eye.

I fell backwards onto my butt as a small crowd of other nine years olds jeered and laughed and pointed at pathetic me.

This was my daily routine. All because I was different than all other kids at school.

If only they could see me now.

I suppose it didn't really help my situation back then that I was an extreme introvert.

See, home life wasn't much better. Actually, getting punched in the face by some boy at school was a picnic compared to what I usually got at home. Dad was an alcoholic, and worked at some office for most of the day. The only time I really saw him was the few hours between the time he was off work and the time I was sent to bed. And even that was too much for me.

The worst part was when I'd get the belt for no good reason. At least, no good reason that I could remember. He'd walk by my room, double back, whip open the door, and scream at me.

"What the hell do you think your doing!?" I could always smell the booze on his breath, even from a few meters away.

"I…I-I'm…" really I was just playing with my ponies. But in his drunken stupor I'm sure it must've seemed I was doing much worse things.

"Not in this house you don't!" He'd grab me, pull down my pants, and let me have it with his thick leather belt. I still have scarring from where the welts actually bled.

Mom wasn't much better. By the time I was five I had learned how to dress myself and make my own breakfast. I was never really sure what Mom did for a job, except she would always leave at night and come back early in the morning, smelling like Dad's breath and something like smoke. And her uniform was always the same; short black skirt and tiny tube top with these boots that had six inch heels on them. It always amazed me that she could even walk in them. I knew the place she worked was called "Fishnets", but I had a feeling that Mom wasn't fishing all night.

Most of the time I'd be taking care of Mom, making her food and running her a bath when she ordered me to. Her job must have been pretty hard on her, she always seemed so sore after her shifts.

Mom and Dad never talked to each other. Mostly because when one was home, the other was at work. And they never spoke to me. They only snapped and yelled things like "clean up this floor!", or "get to your room!" Their personal favorite always seemed to be "You are as useless as your sister was!"

My sister was older than me by 2 years. She was beautiful in my eyes. Her long blonde hair (I was miraculously the only one in the family to have red heir, lucky me) was always so perfectly done up, and her makeup was like that of a Geisha. She always had this porcelain look to her, like if you touched her with too much force she'd shatter. But this did not spare her from Dad's wrath if he felt the need to release it.

When she turned sixteen she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The last three months of her life when by so fast. It was the only time in my life I remember Dad not drinking. After Kaylee died, he went into a depression and the drugs, alcohol, and beatings came more swiftly and severely than ever.

I thought I was the only one who cried over her death. Mom didn't come home for a week. Dad buried himself in paperwork and booze when he was home.

That's right about when Mom left Dad. She just called and told him. She left me with him too. They fought for so long on the phone. Then, after he hung up, He turned into an even scarier person that he had already been. He was maniacal and sever with his beatings. He was a monster.

I took Dad's beatings in silence, then would turtle up in my room, playing with Barbie's and imagining a better life for myself. But I always did so quietly, just in case Dad decided that I was playing too loudly.

My life was miserable, but looking back I wouldn't change it if I could. See, going through the physical and mental torture every day prepared me in a way for what my future held. It made me stronger, able to tolerate pain, and also, gave me a much darker attribute.

I eventually learned to use my fear. I learned to fight back.


	2. Fuel the Fire

In Tenth grade I developed and anger problem. Someone would trip me in the hall or say one too many ignorant remark about my red hair or my slightly masculine body. ( By this time I had gone from gangly to boyish. Hooray for me.) I'd go home and take out my silent rage on Dad's new punching bag.

Dad had taken to a new hobby lately: Kickboxing. He had videos and all sorts of equipment. When he wasn't home, I'd sneak into his workout room and learn as much as I could. It was like an addiction. I felt drawn to the power it made me feel I had, like for once I was in control of my life, like I had nothing to fear. I felt strong and proud. It was the first lime in my life that I felt at piece, just hitting the crap put of that big leather bag.

Before long, I had learned all of the techniques and moves from each of the videos, and had become a sort of home-schooled kickboxing pro.

One day, while walking to the gym for (yay!) the beep test, an older girl tripped me and I went down hard.

"Watch it, _Rusty_!" she sneered. All her friends laughed with her, one girl even hi-fived her.

Something in me snapped at that moment. I don't know if it was the years of torture from the other kids, or the way Dad and Mom had treated me, or both, but all's I remember is going from being on the floor, to being on top of pretty little Marley, my hands at her throat.

"Get…Off…..of….m-m..m…. ME!!" She choked through half sobs and half gasps for air.

Once I realized what I was doing, I had gotten off of her and ran to the girls change room. I locked myself in a bathroom stall and began thinking about what I had done. This was not me. I was not a violent person. I broke down.

I was turning into my father.


	3. Release

After my violent incident at school I was kicked out and not allowed back in to St. Timothy's. I remember walking home that day, thinking of what I was going to tell dad. I was getting the belt for sure. Maybe even the tub.

The tub was a new way dad had come up with to torture me. He'd smack me around for a bit, then find something handy to tie me up with, usually just an extension cord or once he even used our computer mouse cable. He'd tie me up, hands to feet, and then put me in the tub. Next, he'd turn on the shower, and set it on the coldest setting, leaving me there in the freezing water for sometimes up to an hour. Once, after a particularly long episode of this new torture, I thought I was going to die from hypothermia. It was terrible.

Just as I had approached my house in a shady area of downtown, an idea had popped into my head.

Why don't I run away?

A million thoughts ran through my head. What about money? Food? Shelter? In a split second all of the possibilities and what ifs flashed across my brain, but it all came down to one simple fact: Dad was going to give it to me like he never had before if I walked in that door.

That's when I decided I'd take my chances with the world. I dropped my books and ran as fast as I could to nowhere in particular. I remember running for about twenty minutes before stopping in front of a café in the downtown part of the city we lived in.

Looking inside, it seemed not too bad considering the terrible state the surrounding buildings were in. I went in and asked the lady at the counter for a glass of water.

"Sure thing, honey!" She said as she got it for me. She handed me the cool glass and I sat down in a corner booth, trying hard, as usual, to not draw any attention to myself.

I was tired and out of breath from running so hard for so long. I needed a rest and some time to think of my next move.

I remember that's when it hit me. I'm sixteen years old, sitting in a café in a seedy part of town with a whole eleven dollars and sixteen cents in my pocket and a glass of water in my hand. Great. Maybe I should have just gone home.

As I sat sipping the water I realized that there was a TV on across the room. It was on channel 4, the news. The few people in the café seemed very interested in what was going on. I crept closer.

"..and we're not sure exactly who did it at this point, but we are sure that it is gang-related. The ritualistic hanging and skinning of the bodies is proof that it is some kind of cult that is behind the murders of the motorcycle biker gang here. Most likely a fight between two contrasting gangs. All of the bodies found today had guns or some sort of weapon on or near them…."

If I had been smart I would have paid more attention. At the time I didn't know how much that event was going to change my life. No, instead I just went back to the counter and bought a monster cookie.

"That's $2.75 darlin'. And you best be getting home sugar, there's a psycho on the loose, and not too far from here, either."

"Okay ma'am" I said, not really paying attention. I left the store, monster cookie in hand, and headed towards the only place I had left to go.

'Fishnets', and Mom.


	4. Now A Woman

Standing outside of 'Fishnets', everything about mom's night life became clear. Under that neon sight of a lady smiling and doing the splits across a pole I realized what I subconsciously suspected all along… my mom was a stripper.

Inside seemed nice enough. It was dimly lit with a long narrow "stage" with about 5 or 6 poles lined up along it running down the center. There were bar stools lined up along the stage, and dark booths along the walls. There was a small bar at one side, and the bathrooms were at the back. There were glittery, deep red curtains hanging across the back part of the stage, I guessed that's where the dancers came out of.

There were two girls on the stage, and about eight guys crowded around them, offering up folded bills of untold amounts to the women.

I looked around. No mom.

Suddenly a Fat short man who smelled of chili and cigarettes appeared in front of me.

"You got I.D. kid?" he said gruffly. His breath had smelled worse than he did.

"N-no sir! I'm just here to.."

"Well, we'll get you a fake one, you start in ten minutes so hurry up." He snapped as he grabbed my arm and towed me to the back.

"But… no, there's some kind of mistake….I-I'm looking for-"

"Shut-up kid, I know what you're all looking for, and you're not getting it here. No drugs allowed before you perform. Afterwards, I don't care, now hurry up and get that on."

He had taken me into this little dressing room in the back. It was small, and dark, and full of the most amazing costumes I had ever seen. The one he had pointed to was a little black bikini looking thing with black lace gloves and thigh high fishnets and a pair of black shiny high heels. No way was I wearing that. And just what the hell was going on anyways.

"What the hell are you doing here?" someone had said behind me.

I whipped around.

"Mom?" I looked her up and down. I never wanted to see my Mom dresses like this, not in a million years. She was in a blue sequin bra and thong, with knee high boots with a sheer, see through robe draping her pretty much naked body. Her blonde hair was done up in a cascade of glamorous ringlets. Other that a weird bruise on the inside of her left elbow, she seemed like she had been doing well since leaving Dad and me. She had a great body, for being in her thirties, an I silently hoped that I'd inherit the same genes.

"I asked you a question, Kimira!"

I snapped back to reality.

"Mom, I was kicked out of school and Daddy's been beating me worse than ever, I can't take it anymore, if I go home he'll kill me for sure and.."

"Stop it!" she snapped. "He's and asshole and I don't want to hear another word about him. I suppose you need a place to stay. Well, you can stay with me, but there's rent to pay. $600 a month. And it looks like you've already found yourself a job…" she looked down at the tiny black thing I was supposed to be wearing. "Hurry up, show starts in five minutes, and I hear it's going to be a packed house."

She turned towards the mirror to get her face ready.

"But... Mom I'm not even old enough and besides I can't even … those poles are… um… and it's not right-"

"NOT RIGHT?!" she snapped as she turned back to me, clearly pissed at what I had said. "Every day women's bodies are exploited, pasted up and contorted into this perfect image that society thinks is proper. _That's_ not right." She wobbled a bit on her four inch heels. Her breath smelled of liquor as she stalked up, rolling her hips with every step, and leaned in closer to me. She gritted her teeth as she continued.

"What I do is art. It is a very powerful feeling to have such an effect over men that they are willing to give you anything. Especially money. It's _empowerment_ Kimira, and don't you ever forget that." She smiled coldly. "Besides, once you do it the first time, you'll be addicted. You're going to love it. The feeling is better than any high you can get from a drug. The effect you'll have on your audience… it's…" she trailed off into her own thoughts. It sounded to me like she was trying to convince herself, more so than me.

I looked at the Bikini thing. I supposed that I had no real choice. Dance and make money, or go home and get the snot beat out of me. I put it on and looked in the mirror.

"My, my Kimira, you've become a woman!" Mom commented in a sort of dark tone of voice..

I couldn't help but think the same thing. As I looked into the mirror I saw a person I did not recognize: Tall, slim, well built, nice muscle tone thanks to kickboxing, average but nice chest, and intense green eyes framed my long orange-red hair. I couldn't believe that all this was hiding under my usual daily don't-notice-me-and-leave-me-alone dress code of sweatpants and school hoodie.

I _was_ a woman. And at sixteen and a half, I became a stripper.


	5. Dancing

"Come on Kimira, you're going cause us to be late again. You know how much Larry hates it when his girls are late!" Mom shouted to me from the bottom of the stairs.

It had been just over a year since I had abandoned my life of beatings and ridicule for a life of drunken men and money. The night life. The life of a stripper.

For the most part it was alright. Living with Mom had been a good choice, she was hardly ever home. Mostly, she was out with men, trying to make extra cash on the side. She taught me to be strong, self-reliant, and cold to the world.

"Remember why we have to do this. It's a matter of survival. A woman's body is a powerful thing. Use it to your advantage." She'd remind me every day.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't think that I had become some sort of goddess in the eyes of men or anything like that. I was downright ashamed of myself. I had quit going to school and was a underage dancer at a seedy club. I did not attempt to glorify what I was in my mind, but at the same time, it was better that what I had had before.

On the bright side, I had saved up some cash to continue to train in martial arts on the side. For some reason, me being younger than the other women worked to my advantage. Although the men were not allowed to touch us while we worked, I did manage to rake in a good chunk of money every night. I sort of became a highlight of the nightly shows. "Larry's little jewel" I was dubbed. I had a lot of regulars, and a lot of them paid good money to watch me dance. My young body made me agile, while my training in martial arts kept me toned and strong. I could work those polls like no other.

On one particular night, I remember I was dancing, doing a routine in a cute little pink ensemble, when a news flash came on the plasma TV over the bar. Everyone's attention turned to the hectic scenes flashing on the screen. I had to admit, I was a little ticked that I was not the center of attention, and a flash of anger swept over me. But it subsided as I realized what was going on. Larry killed the music and turned up the tube.

"…ecause it's just pure carnage down here, Sue. As you can see behind me the entire building has been sectioned off by the city police and no one is allowed near. This is the closest that Channel 4 news could get. So far police aren't saying what caused the explosion, but eyewitnesses said that it was unlike anything they're seen before. They all described a bright blue ball of light come crashing from the apartment building's 5th floor into the wall of the neighboring building. We'll zoom up on the hole created by this supposed "Blue Ball"…. As you can see there are scorch marks all around the place where the hole it, where a solid brick wall should be. Neighbors reported there to be a methamphetamine dealer living and working out of the fifth floor, but that has not been confirmed by police. The neighbors also said that the man living there was feared by others in the neighborhood because he was know to have a history of manic violence and carried a gun. Was it a drug deal gone bad? We'll have an update shortly. Back to you, Sue."

"What's this city coming too…" grumbled a drunk sitting at the bar.

"That building is only about two blocks from here!" mused Sahara, a dancer.

As the men and a few of the dancers discussed what they had just seen Larry turned the music back up and I went back to my pole. Just as I turned around, something caught my eye. Out one of the windows was a…

No, it couldn't be, that's just weird. But then…. just as fast as it had appeared, it had vanished.

I shook my head. Must have been the shots I had taken earlier. Or maybe I was tired. I stared at the window a few seconds longer before grabbing the pole and hoisting my body up onto it, slowly twirling round and down. Had I really just seen a man out there? If so, he was huge. And he looked like he was wearing some sort of mask. Maybe it was just one of the firefighters from down the street. After all, the explosion had only been two blocks from where I was working. But still, as I danced and slowly regained my audience's attention, I continued to have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

He had been staring right at _me_. And something about him just didn't seem… _right_.


	6. Dancing and Chaos

A week later I had shown up for work and, once there, really wished I hadn't. It was Larry's new idea to promote business. Half price night, tonight only. The line up was already around the block.

Business had been slow since the explosion, and the discovery of four drug dealers body's strung up and skinned don the roof of that apartment building. There were even rumors that some of their heads were missing. It was similar to an incident that had happened in the area about a year ago, almost to the day. People were hesitant to come down to our area of town, for fear of being mutilated too.

I wasn't scarred. In both cases they had been violent gang members or drug dealers, and I was neither. So I assumed I had nothing to worry about. Boy was I wrong.

Half price night went just as Larry had planned: We had a full house, and we were hauling in the mother load. I almost didn't have enough places to stuff the twenties and fifties being offered up in exchange for my sultry moves on the stage. I even had to retreat to the dressing rooms once or twice to stash some of the cash. If I could keep it up for the rest of the night, I could have enough cash to pay for some of my own training equipment at home, and not just have to use the equipment at the classes I attended.

Martial arts had become my passion. Not only did it teach me self control and confidence, but it made me relax. It was the one thing in my life that was constant and that I felt truly at peace with the world. It was my life. I had hoped that once I became really good, I could compete, become a professional, and even leave behind my life as a dancer and take a position teaching martial arts. I had become a great fighter, a black belt in my class, and my Sensei had commented on how strong and fast I had become. My small, strong body and flexibility made me a formidable opponent, with talent to boot. I would be great…

A fight broke out at the bar, and snapped me back to reality. The packed place was hot and smelled of sweat and tobacco. I turned my gaze to the place where the yelling voices had come from. It was Larry.

"The rules clearly state that you are NOT to touch the ladies while performing. What they do on their own time is there business, but while they're under my roof, you obey my ru—"

The man Larry was talking to pulled out a knife. He held it to the dancer's throat that he was holding. The dancer was - -

"MOM!" I shouted. No one hard me over the yelling voices. I had to get over there, now! As I jumped down and pushed through the crowed, something caught my eye, out the window again… the man.. NO TIME!

I shoved by the croud, trying to reach my mom.

"N-Now lisssten up, you fat hic …fat... stupid…. _guy_! I'm taking this one tooo my plaace and his _that's that_…" the drunken man tightened his grip on my mom as he tried to drag her towards the door. No one tried to stop him, still swinging the knife around in an arc as he backed towards to door, my mom in tow.

"Someone stop him!" I yelled as I continued to reach her, pushing past the sea of bodies. Damn half price night…

Finally I reached the small clearing that had formed around the man, the others not wanting to get too close.

"Release her!" I yelled.

The man laughed at me.

"Or _what_… you little whore? You gonna try and ssssave your friend. How c-cute. hic Tell you what, you can come tooo." The man continued to head for the door, only feet away.

"Not on your life. Let her go or I'll"

The man reached behind him, dropped the knife, and pulled out a gun he had been concealing under his leather jacket.

He pointed it right at me.

"Or you'll what…..?" He stopped then, and icy glare fixed right on me. "you want some, whore? Ha ha, threatening me? That was a bad mista---"

Suddenly the whole world exploded into chaos. A sound of glass shattering, from behind me… the window? The tall masked man! A flash of blue light. The drunk man was down. Exploded! Mom? Where was she? Everyone was panicking, running for the door. Someone knocked me down. MOM! Was she okay? As I tried to scramble up I saw another flash of light, and screaming. We were under attack! I regained my footing and ran to the spot I had seen my mother last. As I approached the steaming pile of guts that was once the drunken man, I realized that my Mom was not there. She must have gotten up and ran. The door!

I turned and ran… only to run smack into... nothing? I fell backward onto the floor, stunned and a bit confused. I looked up. Nothing. I tried to get up again, but suddenly there was an intense pressure on my chest, holding me down. I couldn't breathe! What was going on?

As I lay there, helpless on my back I realized I was the only one left in the building. In the background I heard sirens. Police, a fire truck maybe. Coming to help!

I reached forward, the pressure on my chest still there, and felt around…there was… something… and invisible... no, not invisible. I watched in horror as, slowly, a shimmering figure appeared above me. It was as if light itself danced and shone in a way that is indescribable. I saw a massive, scaled leg and clawed foot appear on my chest, attached to a body…

As the figure became clearer my vision grew blurrier. I panicked, hyperventilated. I was going to die! Tears streamed down the sided of my face as the masked man stood above me. My vision became dark and tunneled. Right before I completely blacked out I heard a sound. It was deep and guttural, with clicks and growls surrounding it….

"Ahymede'de krak'na'ka."


	7. Pain and Fear

I awoke with a pain in my head like never before. It was so intense... like someone had parked a dump truck right on the middle of my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes.

A bright light burned into my eyes and I slammed them shut again. What was going on? Slowly, cautiously, I felt around. I was laying on some sort of metal table. It was warm to the touch. Odd. I slowly re-opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the bright light above me. Where was I?

Then I remembered. I shot up on the table, my eyes darting around the small room I was in. Empty. I hopped off the table and climbed under the flimsy looking metal table. It wouldn't provide much of a hiding space, but I guess it was just instinct. It was only about three feet off the ground, with four legs. Like an operating table. My head still hurt so bad.

I looked around the room. There was nothing else in it besides the table, the light, and myself. I skimmed the metallic looking walls for a door. Nothing. How did I even get in here? Where was here?

I retraced my memory for some clue as to what had happened. I remembered the club, and dancing, the man with the gun, mom…

"Oh Mom… I hope you're okay…" Although my mother hadn't been the best mother out there, she was still all I had. She had given me a home and taught me to provide for myself. And now I was... I didn't even know where I was. And there was that man... that strange invisible man.

Fear gripped me as I thought of his massive dragon-like foot, crushing down on my chest.

What had happened? Where was I?

As if on cue, a part of the wall shimmered and dissolved away to form a doorway, like something out of star-trek or something. What the hell?

I slowly got into a crouch position, ready to make a run for it, when a huge man walked in and closed the door with the swipe of his hand across a panel.

I recoiled in fear. From where I was under the table I could only see him from about the chest down. He was tall, probably around eight feet, with huge rippling muscles and olive green and yellow skin. He was wearing something similar to a loin cloth, only heavier looking, secured with a thick metallic belt. There was a type of netting covering half of his upper body, and some sort of gauntlet on his left forearm. Hanging from his belt were a few unrecognizable items…and….

_A human skull!_

I let out a gasp and I backed as far as I could away from him without leaving the flimsy cover of the table. I watched in fear as he took two steps towards the table and crouched down.

"AHHHHHH!!!!!!" I screamed as I saw the things face.

The mask had been covering it before. It was HIDEOUS!

It's face was very crab-like, with four large mandibles protruding from around it's mouth. Intense yellow eyes starred at me framed by thick, rubbery-looking 'dreadlocks' that grew from the creatures head.

As he reached a clawed hand out to grab my ankle, I lost consciousness.


	8. Strange thoughts

I woke up again, this time fully aware of where I was. I looked around, realizing I was still in the room. I was back on the table. Only this time, I was restrained!

My eyes shifted from my restraints to the creature standing off to the side of the room. His back was turned to me. I quietly tried to free my arms from the thick bands of _dlex_.

Dlex? What was that? How did I know this word? Yes, that is what the material is called, strong enough to even restrain a full sized _Kainde Amedha_ queen.

What?! A million strange thoughts began to flood my brain… _Cetanu_, the god of death. And _Paya_, the conquering warrior-god. I thought of oomans and how good a trophy would look on my wall back home, of the _kehrite_, and how I longed to test my mettle against the other _yautja_, the other _jehdin _on the ship that had yet to be blooded.

What was going on? I clamped my eyes shut and screamed and a million thoughts and memories that were not my own flooded and took over my mind. And my head….throbbed….it was pounding like it never had before.

The creature turned from a table that had appeared out of the wall filled with instruments and approached me with a syringe filled with pale green liquid.

"No!" I stammered as he emptied it into my arm. Almost immediately I began to feel sleepy. Just before I fell back into _dhi'ki-de_, an image floated into my head. An image of the _Kainde Amedha, _grinning at me with rows and rows of metallic teeth. The black, shiny comb of it's head swept back and away from the threatening teeth, saliva pouring from it's hungry mouth. I smiled at it just before everything went black again. The hunt would begin soon. And I would be the _kv'var-de_, the hunter.


	9. Creeped Out

I awoke again to find myself in a different room. It looked oddly familiar. Like the living quarters that I remembered seeing in the old Star-Trek movies. The room was roomy enough, about the size of a living room. The floor and walls were made up of some sort of metallic looking material, like a bunch of steel plates welded together in no particular order. There was no visible door to the room. The roof was really neat; it was a projection of the universe or something. There was blackness, and stars. As I shifted myself on the too-big bed to get a closer look at the projection, a planet came into view.

It was Saturn, rings and all. It was very pretty.

Where was I?! I snapped back to reality, remembering everything that had happened. I remembered the room, the strange monster man… and the strange thoughts and words that kept popping into my head. I thought for a second. Nope, no weird thoughts now. I guess I had just been really out of it or something. Yeah, it was probably just a hallucination or something. Any minute now I'd wake up in a hospital bed…

Then I had an Idea.

"Yeowwch!!" I exclaimed as I pinched my arm, hard. Okay, that idea is out. Definitely awake.

I looked around the room. No door. I felt around the walls, remembering that the creature had swiped his palm over something to open the other door. I checked the whole room. Nothing.

Where was the projection coming from? Maybe there was a vent or something. I climbed up onto the bed and reached up to touch the roof. It was cold like glass.

…like glass……. It WAS glass! I fell back onto the bed in something made up of shock and panic. Was I really in SPACE!?!

Before I could gather my thoughts again there was a low Fwooosh! sound as a door suddenly appeared across from the bed. A monster-man walked in, and the door closed behind him.

I screamed bloody murder as he just stood there, looking at me with his beady yellow eyes. This was it. He came to make Kimira stew and I was the main ingredient.

I screamed for what seemed like quite a while, while he just stood there, head cocked. I stopped screaming, seeing that he had made no advance on me or seemed to pose no immediate threat.

"Are you done?" he said. No, he didn't say it. He clicked and growled something. But in my mind, it was like words and images formed the words right there before me. What the hell?

"What the hell's going on?" I said aloud.

The man creature sort of rolled his eyes and gave what I imagined to be a sigh.

"Come with me, we have much to do." He said. Again, what I heard were clicks and growls, but it made sense in my head.

"Uh-uh, no way buddy, I am not going anywhere with you." I retorted. Was he crazy?

"Yeah, like I'd really—"

Suddenly he walked over and grabbed my arm, hoisting me up to my feet.

"I said let's go, _Ooman_! We have much to do!"

"Ow, okay geeze, could you ease off a bit, your hurting me. Look, I'll come with you be you have some explaining to do. Where the hell am I, and what the hell did you do to my head. And why did you take me. Was it you that was at the club? Are we actually in spa-"

"QUIET!" he roared in my face. "All will be revealed shortly, now follow me. And don't get any ideas about running off. There are others on this ship that would love a new Ooman trophy for themselves."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I decided it would be beast just to follow him. We walked out the door and into a corridor that was similar to the room; metallic walls and glass ceilings, giving full view of space. Okay, I was on some sort of space ship, I had accepted that. Why, I was still completely in the dark about. I was so confused and utterly scared. My training taught me not to show fear to your opponents. I tried my best to stick with that, although I'm pretty sure that by 'opponents' they didn't mean 8 foot tall crab face monster men from space.

We entered another room not too far from 'my' room. There were two more creatures standing in there, although slightly differently dressed.

"Elder, here she is" said the one that had escorted me.

"Please, sit down Ooman" said the older looking of the two. He had long thick rubbery dread things framing his weathered looking crab face. There were a lot of scars on this guy. One was really interesting looking. It was right above his right eye, and was shaped like a spiral with a two protruding lines coming from the center. Wonder what made that…

"I suppose you are wondering why you're here" said the "elder."

'Well yeah, obviously, it's not every day that yo-"

"Silence Ooman" my escort bellowed. "You are not to speak with the elder directly. That privilege is reserved for only the blooded. Further violation, and you will be punished Ooman!"

I shut my mouth. No need to be told twice, especially from these guys…

"You have been selected by our medical team to under go a full biological study. We wish to learn more about your species. This was the best way to do so. We implanted a small chip inside your brain that will allow us to communicate freely with you. You will understand everything we say. It will help with the …process." The elder smiled darkly as he spoke that last word. It gave me chills.

"Now, unfortunately we do not understand the human brain well enough to do the same for us. We cannot understand your native tongue as fluently, although there are some that can, like Jar'rok here." He pointed to my escort again.

"Now, this is Kar'nan, he is our ship's medical senior. Go with him now, let the process begin."

I couldn't believe what was happening. So, I was a guinea pig. I had already undergone one experiment of theirs, although silently I was a little thankful to be able to understand them. Not to mention, it really didn't seem like I had a choice.

I followed 'Kar'nan' out the door and down a serious of hall ways. As we walked, I noticed Jar'rok was close behind me.

"Am I allowed to talk with you?" I asked feebly.

"I suppose if you must" he replied, clearly annoyed.

"Um, will I get to go home after?"

"Assuming you live?" he asked.

That didn't sound very promising.

"uh, yeah, assuming I live…"

"No."

I swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears.

"Why?"

He sighed again, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Because, we will not be returning to this planet for quite some time. Our live cycles are approximately eight times that of yours. And it is unlikely you will survive anyways.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, knowing that I probably didn't want to know.

"Because the last part of the study procedure is full anatomical autopsy of the species we are studying."

He said it to me so emotionless, like he had no remorse for what he had said towards me. Like I was just a frog or earthworm, about to be dissected in school.

I began to cry then. There was nothing I could do. If I ran I died, if I followed them I'd live a while longer, then die. Living a while longer sounded good to me. Besides, maybe there was a way outta here…

"That creature that you put into my head, the 'hard meat", what is it?" I asked, trying to take my mind off of my imminent doom.

Jar'rok stopped dead behind me; a look of what I assumed was shock on his face. His eyes were wide, mandibles spread.

"How do you know of the hard meat?"

Kar'nan noticed and stopped as well, asking him what I had said. I guess he couldn't understand English like Jar'rok could.

"She asked why we put an image of the hard meat in her head" he replied, still seeming bewildered.

The 'doctor' came close to me.

"We did no such thing. We simply put a translation device into your brain, words alone should be translated. Unless…." The doctor trailed off.

"…We used Jar'rok's thoughts and memories to design the chip, him having the most knowledge of the Ooman language. We thought it would work better that way. Somehow his memories must have been transferred as well." The doctor mused.

"You mean she remembers everything about my life?!" Jar'rok roared, clearly ticked off. "That's just great, an Ooman having the memories of a Yautja warrior. And not just any Yautja, oh no….NO!…it's gotta be _me_!" he seemed disgusted with me as he shot me a glare.

"No, not all your memories, human brains do not have the capacity to hold all of the information, our life cycles are much longer, meaning we have much more capacity for memory. Only the most recent memories would have been transferred… interesting…" said the doctor as he continued down the hall.

As we continued, Jar'rok muttered something that I didn't quite hear.

"Pardon me?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just really strange to have a lower life form walking around with my memories. It creeps me out" he replied in a pouty tone of voice.

I returned my gaze to the floor directly in front of me and continued walking. Creeps him out? What about me? I was the one walking around with an alien chip in my head. An alien chip that translated the words of an alien species, who happened to look like the boogieman's worst nightmare. Not to mention the memories of some hellish mess of another alien creature, and a whole lot of other strange things.

And _he_ was creeped out?

_Please._


	10. Challenge

I ran as fast as I could through the jungle. Just a few hundred yards to the ship, and I'd be off this planet with a good few trophies to add to my wall. I could hear the oomans close behind me, running blindly after me in the dark of night. Beside me, was another Yautja. He, too, had trophies hanging at his side, lightly cracking against one another as we ran.

I checked my wrist tracker, ten feet to the ship! I activated the door. Two more steps!

Suddenly, a bright flash of light, and pain! I flew through the door of the ship, landing face first into the ship's hard floor. I turn around. Blasted Oomans and their weapons, shooting blindly into the night, dishonorable little…

I notice that the other is no longer with me…. but where..?

Ooomans, getting closer. I look back out the door, and call out his name. Only a groan. Then I see him, lying in the brush not ten feet away. He's missing a chunk from his lower chest, bright green blood is everywhere. He reaches to his wrist computer and taps some buttons. I hear the countdown begin as he lays back. He looks at me then.

"Leave, I am for the dark warrior now. I hunt the final hunt tonight."

"N-No!" I stammer, only then noticing the pain in my left leg, likely broken from the impact. "I _will not_ leave you behind!"

"Go!" He yells, and with the last of his strength raises his hand to his computer once more.

The door to the ship slams shut, and the engines whirr to life. I feel the ship lift off the ground as a mechanical voice points out blankly "auto pilot engaged."

"NO!" I scream as I pound the door.

"FAR'THAK……"

- - - - - - -

I wake up screaming.

"Far'thak! No, I won't leave you behind!!"

I'm staring into "Far'thak's face…. No, wait. Jar'rok's face. I look around, still breathing hard. I was back in the medical room, lying on a table under bright lights.

"What happened?" I asked groggily. The last thing I remembered was walking down the hall, and Jar'rok telling me that I creep him out.

"I gave you a drug that would put you into a comma while I ran some tests on your biology. You've been in this room for about two weeks." It was Kar'nan who spoke this.

I sat up slowly and looked down at myself. Well, I wasn't naked, but I might as well have been. The spandex-like suit I was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. But I seemed to be in one piece, and still alive. That was all I cared about.

It was then that I noticed Jar'rok. He was starring at me in what I had guessed was shock.

"What?" I asked him.

"When you awoke… you said…. 'Far'thak! No, I won't leave you behind!!'"

I looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare. I thought I'd have grown out of them by now. Human children sometimes have them. I was running, in a jungle. There were people running after me. We tried to reach the ship in time but…" I looked up at him again.

"..but there was an explosion." He finished for me. "That was the last time I hunted on earth. The last time I saw my brother." Jar'rok said the last part quietly. I could tell that it had brought back old memories. Painful memories.

"Excuse me doctor, I take my leave" Jar'rok said as he got up and walked out the door.

"Very interesting. Do all humans have these 'sleep scenarios'?" Asked Kar'nan.

"Mostly, yes, they are called dreams."

"Dreams? Exquisite! I may have to postpone the autopsy to make time to study these dreams as well! Humans are so fascinating!"

"So uh, what have you been doing to me these past to weeks?" I asked, trying to take my mind off how I had upset Jar'rok. I don't know why, but it bothered me that he was so upset. I knew I shouldn't care, after all, him and his kind were using me like some sort of lab frog. But I felt a connection of some sort with him. Maybe it was just the fact that I shared his memories, but maybe it was something more.

"Well, we mapped the entire human brain, researched tissue regeneration, opened the chest cavity and mapped all major organs, took samples of.."

"WHAT!?" I screamed. "You opened my WHAT!?!"

My hands flew to my chest. Sure enough, through the thin spandex material, I could feel the scarring from the incision.

"It was necessary to find out what was the most lethal area to an Ooman, and how to injure them without killing them, not to mention the best way to gut them." He said simply. He continued cleaning the instruments.

"Oh, we also found the reason you knew all the words of our people, and memories of Jar'rok. When we were putting the chip in your head, you came to. Since the chip wasn't quite functioning properly yet, it flooded your brain with all Jar'rok's memories. But, now that the chip is fully on-line, you will only be able to access memories at will. Since you know nothing of our kind's way of life, that will be unlikely." He paused for a second and turned back towards me.

"However, it seems that these 'dreams' you have trigger some memories to come forth when you are sleeping. Since the last step of bringing you out of a coma includes deep sleep, the memory of Jar'rok's brother came forth. So Fascinating!"

I thought about all this for a minute. So I had his memories, but only had access to them if I tried to recall them. Okay. But when I dream, then just sort of come forth and throw me into some alien hunter's nightmares. Perfect.

"So, what now?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh, you will be taken back to your quarters to rest. Tomorrow I will be looking into the physical capabilities of your kind."

"Will it hurt?"

"No, just a few physical tests to see what the limit is of your species."

He finished cleaning the instruments and turned to lead me back to my quarters. As we walked, I touched my hand to my chest. Surprisingly, there was no pain around the incision. I reached to the neck of the outfit I was wearing and pulled it open, peering down the front. There was a long line down my front, barely visible, only slightly raised.

We reached the room I had been in yesterday….no, two weeks ago. I entered and turned to ask the doctor another question, but he had already turned and the door whooshed shut. I collapsed on my bed.

I had to think of a way out of here. Time was running out. Two weeks had already gone by. I had to be more careful. Next time they put me out, I might not wake up. Ever.

I turned onto my side and stared at the wall. How would I escape?

Suddenly I heard the door fwoosh open behind me. I turned, expecting to see the doctor, but instead found Jar'rok.

"My brother was brave. A true warrior. He was a better hunter than me. It was our last trip to earth together before he was to become a teacher. He had many skills. Patience was one of them, not normally found amongst our kind. The elders loved him for that. It should have been me who died on that planet. I should have done more." He clenched his fist while he said the last part.

He put his head down. "I felt you should know that. If you are going to carry the memory of my brother, then you _needed_ to know that. He died brave." His voice was full of bitterness. I couldn't help but feel that most of it was aimed at me. He turned to leave.

"Things happen, and we can't look back and dwell on them" I said. He stopped in the doorway and looked back. "If we dwell, it consumes us, leaving no room for here and now. Don't dwell on the past, Jar'rok, you cannot change it. Instead, live your life, and remember and honor your brother for who he was."

I got up and walked over to his towering figure. "I am honored to carry you're brother's memory."

He stood still for a minute, and then slowly cocked his head to one side.

"Such wise words, for an Ooman." He said darkly. "One of the elders spoke similar words to me upon my arrival home." He lowered his head. "I just…I don't know how to look at you anymore. When you woke up, screaming my brother's name, and described my memories….it's like…" he paused, searching for the right words. "It's like you are a part of me."

I could tell by the look on his strange face that he really didn't like the idea. From what I could gather, this race was an arrogant bunch of hunters that took trophies of different species. From the strange memories I had already experienced, it seemed that their entire being revolved around hunting. And I was one of their 'prey", a lowly human, I was what a deer is to a human hunter. I could see why he was so angry.

I needed to change the subject, fast. He looked so unhappy.

"Hey, well, um… are you busy right now?"

He looked at me with his golden eyes.

"What?" He looked so confused.

"Well, I was just wondering, you know, if you had some extra time, maybe you could tell me about your species a bit. You seem like great warriors." He puffed out his chest a little at this.

"You know," I continued, " back home I learned to fight as well. Granted I'm no where near as strong as you but.."

"YOU!? FIGHT!?!" He practically yelled in surprise. Then, a roar of laughter filled the entire room, and probably the entire ship.

I glared at him and crossed my arms. He continued to laugh, tears practically streaming from his face.

"AND JUST WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?" I yelled over his laughter.

He quieted down a bit, but continued to chuckle as he spoke.

"Oomans are one of the easiest pray, their soft meat and small bones make them very fragile." His face grew dark and his voice changed slightly. "It's when they are armed with their weapons that they are a worthy opponent. They are tricksters and cowardly when cornered. They have no honor." I could tell his thoughts had trailed back to his brother.

"Well, yes, maybe, but not all humans are like that. I'm not like that." I said, trying once again to cheer him up. "Hey, maybe I could teach you some of my moves, and you could show me some of yours!"

He looked up at my face again, and after a short pause, erupted into an even louder wave of laughter. Great, well at least he found me funny. I stomped over to my bed and plopped down, arms and legs crossed, with what probably looked like the most extreme poutyface anyone's ever seen. I didn't care. He thought I was pathetic. I was furious. It was just like back home, when the other kids at school would harass me. I hated it.

I let my gaze trail back to him. Why did I care so much what he thought of me? He was my kidnaper, my captor, and now my tormentor. But still, underneath it all, there was some sort of….feeling….

He noticed that I was staring at him. He stopped laughing.

"What are you staring at?" he asked.

I snapped out of it.

"Uh….nothing! I was just thinking about…um...how I could totally kick your butt in a hand to hand fight." I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

Between more laughter he managed to get out "Well, I do have some time to kill before my next bridge shift. Okay Ooman, let's go, this will be very entertaining."

I couldn't help but laugh at the Ooman girl and her ridiculous challenge. She was crazy, the doctor must have done something to her brain. She was so small and flimsy looking, and she wanted to take on a full grown warrior? The thought! I decided to honor her request, she would be dead within the next few days anyways. No harm in humoring her for a while, I thought.

I paused in my thinking for a second. _She would be dead within the next few days_. Something about that bothered me somewhere deep. I looked at her face, staring up at me with the most amusing color of green eyes I had ever seen. Her strange hair was long and a color I had never seen on an Ooman before, a kind of burnt orange color, intense and unique. There was something about her… No. No, no, no! I shook my head to clear my mind.

"Let's go to the training bay, I should be empty, there will be lots of room in there for you to 'kick my butt' as you say" I said to her. She smiled a weird Ooman smile at me. I turned to lead the way.

Maybe it was just because she shared my memories, maybe it was more, but I could feel…something….for her beginning to take over my thoughts. She was fearless, that's for sure, taking on a full grown Yautja male. That was a trait well honored by my kind.

"Jar-rok?" I heard her voice behind me.

"What?"

"I just realized that you don't know my name."

I paused for a second. I never really thought about that before.

"We don't give prey names" I replied without thinking. Stupid! I turned to look at her. Her head was down, I had obviously hurt her. Why did I care? "…but since you are not prey technically, I suppose.." her head snapped back up, a smile on her face once more.

"My name is Kimara." She blurted.

"Ki'mar'a" I echoed.

"Uh, well, the pronunciation is a bit off, but yeah."

I thought a moment. She should have a better name than 'slow rock" which was what Ki'mar'a was in our language.

"I will call you Tar'lain" I said. What was I doing?

"Tar'lain? What is that?"

"It's a Yautja name. It means….." I couldn't believe what I was doing. Naming her 'little beauty'? I must be out of my mind.

"It means 'easy prey'" I lied. She did not seem to like it.

"Oh...um, okay. Thank you." She said in a low voice. Then she perked up a bit.

"Jar-rok, what does your name mean?"

"I'll tell you if you win" I said as I shot her a grin. Oh _Paya_, I was flirting with her! What has come over me?!

"Deal" she said, as she followed behind me.

I lead the way to the training bay, my thoughts now turned to the spar ahead. This would be interesting.


	11. The Fight

Jar'rok led the way to the training bay. As I followed close behind him, I couldn't help but noticed how intriguing his strange alien body was. He was so tall, towering a good 2 and a half feet over me. And I thought I was tall. His long dread-like hair was so unusual and rubbery-looking, and adorned with small bands of a metal that looked similar to bronze. His muscular body was covered in a scale-like skin, a deep green color, with even darker green stripes. The clothes he wore were fairly minimal, something like a loin cloth that covered his lower half, and webbing and pieces of armor covered his upper half. Something about the way he held himself told me that he was very proud of himself and his people. He was probably a great warrior. Which wasn't really good news for me.

We continued in silence to the training bay. Finally, we stopped outside of an archway leading into a large open room.

"This is the training bay. Are you sure you want to take a beating, Ooman?" Jar'rok scoffed.

"Yeah right, like I'm going to back down now after all that walking. Besides, I'm not the one who's going to lose. Plus, I really want to know what your name means" I replied.

Jar'rok gave a little chuckle, then stepped thru the archway, signaling me to follow.

Once I was inside, he swiftly swiped his hand across a metal sheet in the wall, and a door whooshed shut. 

The training bay was a huge dome area, the size of half a football field. There was a padded floor in the middle, and something like very large bleachers surrounding the outer rim. There were several air ducts in the ceiling and walls, but other that that, the room was totally bare. 

"Alright Tar'lain, take your stance there, in the middle. I will give you the pleasure of first attack." 

I walked to the middle of the padded floor. My mind snapped into tactical mode, brought on by years of martial arts training. My opponent was ten feet away, almost exactly. He had strength, that was for sure. But he was big, and big meant slow. I would have to rely on my speed alone if I was going to come out on top of this bout. I took stance facing Jar'rok, and squared off. I cleared my mind, focusing on him alone. He took a similar stance across from me. 

"Any time, Ooman" Jar'rok said with a smile, still mocking me. I suppose he didn't really take this fight seriously. Big mistake. 

I ran at him full speed, but just before I reached him, I side stepped and did a diving roll, getting behind him_. Yes!_ I thought, _speed was working_; he barely had time to react…

With one fluid movement I got to my feet and at the same time lashed out with one leg, hitting him square in the back of his left knee. Jar'rok fell to one knee, letting out a roar of surprise. I continued by landing a quick blow to his ribs with my right leg, knocking his wind out when my foot hit its target. He let out an _**oof**_ and tried to swing a punch around, but I had already done a backhand spring out of his reach. 

As he got to his feet in front of me, a dim flash caught my eye. It came from one of the vents in the wall, directly behind Jar'rok. _FOCUS!_

Jar'rok was on his feet, looking quite angry and a little shocked. Good, he could use a little….

There, again, a dull flash. There was something in the vent. I squinted my eyes, trying to see. Jar'rok was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I stared in shock as I realized what it was.

From the dark of the vent, a figure emerged. Metallic black, rows of deadly sharp teeth, and that unmistakable swept-back comb… It was the creature of my nightmares.

Suddenly I was flying through the air, and landed hard about eight feet from where I was standing. Dazed, I looked around, wondering what happened. It took me a second to realize that Jar'rok had not noticed the hellish thing in the vent and pretty much body checked me into the ground.

"Haha! Not so tough not are you Ooman girl? Did your leaders ever tell you to pay attention and never take your eyes off your prey?" Jar'rok laughed at me.

My eyes snapped back to the vent. It was open, but where was the creature?

"Jar'rok, there was one of those things, those, uh… kinder ahaymed things…"

"Kainde amedha? The hard meat?"

"Yeah, from your memories, I swear I just saw one in that open vent."

"Impossible, there's no way one could be on this ship, we are in the middle of our warp path, deep in space. I think I may have hit you too hard, little Tar'lain" Jar'rok joked.

"No, it was there.."

"Stop making excuses, you lost, now you will never know…"

Jar'rok was cut short by a loud hissing noise. He whipped around to come face to face with a kainde amedha thing.

"See? Told you."

Suddenly the creature pounced. Jar'rok must have been in shock, because the thing hit him square in the chest, taking him down. I had to help him!

As the two because locked in a desperate battle for life, I looked around the room to find some sort of weapon. Nothing! I looked back. Th creature was still on top of Jar'rok, trying to chew on him with it's inner mouth. Jar'rok was roaring in fury and just barely managing to keep the thing safely beyond it's teeth's reach. I had to do something, NOW!

I raced to the nearest set of bleachers and looked under them. There was a small thin pipe running out of the wall. Perfect! I tried kicking it to break it away from its fixture.

A loud roar came from behind me. Jar'rok was hurt! The creature had used its claws to open a gash in his left arm, bright green blood oozing out. Hurry!

I kicked harder, and harder. Finally the top half came away from the wall. I grabbed the pipe and tore it from the wall. I ran back to the fighting duo, circling to the back of the preoccupied creature. I raised the pipe above my head, and thrust it down into the abdomen of the creature as hard as I could. 

The thing screamed and fell backwards, off of Jar'rok and towards me. As it fell, it screeched and convulsed, bleeding its strange blood everywhere. The floor bubbled and sizzled with ever drop spilled. That's when it hit me; this alien's blood was acidic! 

I ran to Jar'rok's side as the creature lay dying in it's own disgusting acidic mess. 

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'll live, we need to alert the others. If there are more on this ship, we need to .."

"Hey, you need medical attention, your arm is bleeding like crazy!"

"Later, we need to alert the Elder!" He snapped as he managed to get too his feet. He looked at me.

"Are you alright?" he asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine" I replied. 

"Thank you." He managed to stammer out. I got the feeling it wasn't a word he normally used. "Let's get to the bridge."

We walked towards the door to the hallway. As I passed the dead Kainde amedha, I grabbed the pipe out from it's bug-like body. Just incase. It was badly eaten away by the acid, but it was still useful. A bit of the aliens blood was still inside the pipe, sizzling.

As we walked out into the hall we heard Yautja screams from somewhere in the ship.

"Stay close to me Tar'lain" Jar'rok said.

"Uh, yeah, that won't be a problem" I replied.

- - - - - - - - -

Something inside told me to protect the small Ooman girl. I quickly blamed it on instinct and turned my attention from the direction of the death cries. What the _pauk_ was going on? A sting in my left arm reminded me that I was injured, badly. A main artery in my arm had been severed, and I was losing blood, fast. I was in no shape to fight these Kainde amedha hand to hand. I needed a weapon. Tar'lain had proven herself resourceful and had armed herself with part of a pipe from the ship's toilet system. She had saved my life from the surprise attacker. I did not like the feeling. Now I felt in debt to her. Yautja rarely helped each other in battle. It was not part of _the way_.

I turned my attention back to her. She had the pipe gripped tightly, with her back towards me, covering the rear. I felt better then, realizing that she really did know how to fight. Another scream filled the air as another comrade was taken by the Kainde amedha. _PAUK_!

I opened up a com link on my wrist computer between me and the doctor. His face shimmered to life on the screen.

"Doctor, what is going on?" I asked.

"It seems that on our last hunt a few of the face huggers managed to stow away on our ship. They infested our ship's primary meal livestock and now they are on the loose. Jar'rok, is the girl with you?"

"Yes, she is here." I replied.

"Good, keep her close to you Jar'rok, she is very special. I don't think I'll last much longer, they are outside my door, and I have not the strength to fight them in my old age. The Elder is already dead, along with many other's. It was an unexpected attack. Get to an escape pod. Jar-rok, take care of her."

"Doctor? I'll come for you!" I argued. This was all too familiar to me.

"JAR'ROK, GO! You do not understand the importance of this girls survival, please, take her and GO!" the doctor shouted angrily. 

"Why, what is so important about this Ooman girl?" I asked, trying to buy time as I made my way towards the doctor's chambers. 

"I chose her for a special reason. I wasn't going to kill her; I was going to put her in stasis until we reached home. You must get her home, Jar'rok, my brother will know what to do with her. And you are not coming for me." The doctor raised his wrist and tapped some buttons. With a whoosh, the hall in front of me was barricaded with a door. "Go, now" he said sadly. Then, in a whirr of black, the doctor disappeared from the screen, screams of pain transmitting through the communicator. I snapped it shut. 

"Jar'rok, I'm sorry... I…."

Tar'lain. She was still right behind me, protecting me.

"We need to get to an escape pod" I said, trying to get my mind together. The doctor's death and the pain in my arm were causing me to loose track of my thinking. Or maybe it was the loss of blood…

"Okay, where are they?" she asked.

"Just around the corner." I said, turning to lead the way. As we approached the open hatch, I became lightheaded. My vision tunneled. At the door of the pod, I suddenly lost my footing. 

"Jar'rok!" Tar'lain cried out as she tried to grab me. I was too weak, lost too much blood. My world began to go dark. Tar'lain was behind me, trying to pull me into the pod. Inch by inch, she was doing it. Then, a lone Kainde amedha prowled around the corner down the hall. With a shriek, it charged us, teeth flashing. 

My world went black.

He was a heavy son of a bitch that was for sure. It took all the strength I had, and some I didn't even know I had, to pull him inside just in time to slam the pod's door in the hellish creature's face. I rushed to the control panel and found a red button. It was the only button on the panel, so I pushed it. I was kicked back onto the floor as the pod violently released itself from the ship. I got up and went back to Jar'rok. He was unconscious, probably because he had lost a lot of blood. I had to stop the bleeding, fast. 

Then I remembered the pipe! I grabbed it and looked inside. There was still a bit of acidic blood pooled inside, just enough to cauterize his wound and stop the bleeding. I worked fast. 

The acid did its job. The wound sizzled as the drips of acidic blood burned them shut. He was still alive, and after resting, he would recover. As I finished, I realized how exhausted I was from the fight and from dragging his massive body into the pod. I laid my head down on his chest and closed my eyes. 

The ship was sailing through the black of space at high speed to some unknown destination. The low whirr of the engines were relaxing to a degree, and the sound of Jar'rok's rhythmic breathing and rise and fall of his chest was soothing. It didn't take long until I had drifted off to sleep. 


	12. Findings

I woke up with a sharp pain in my head and a weight on my chest. As I opened my eyes I looked around. I was in an escape pod. What the _pauk_ was going on….?

Then it all came back to me. Like a five hundred pound _krichee_ female had landed on my head. The attack on the ship, the doctor, my wound… 

I looked down at the gash on my arm. It had been tended to, that was for sure. A long cauterization mark took the place of the open wound. Then I noticed her.

She was lying across my chest, seeming so tiny and frail. She had surely saved my life an now… was she…

I reached out and ran a claw through her strange Ooman hair. She did not move. _No, this cannot be…_

My mind flew into a panic. She had died saving my life! That last Kainde amedha must have gotten her. 

I sat up and cradled her body in my arms, brushing her hair from her face. I closed my eyes as something came over me. Sadness? It surprised me that I had felt so much for this strange being, one who I had hunted ruthlessly so many times before, without thought or question. What was wrong with me? At that moment I didn't care. She was brave and stood strong in the face of her opponent, and had even saved my life.

I opened my eyes and looked down into her face. Large green eyes and a questioning face met my gaze. 

"Ahh!" I jumped back in surprise. "Tar'lain! You are alive!!" I practically screamed.

"Uh yeah, what's the big idea shoving me half way across the floor, I fell asleep, sorry. Saving your butt must have zonked me." A smile slowly slid across her face. 

"Besides, why are you so concerned? I thought I was just some laboratory experiment?"

Uhh… so what happened before I…uhh…" I tried to think of a way to change the subject.

"You mean before you dropped like a sack of bricks outside the door of this thing?" Tar'lain giggled to herself. "Well, I dragged you in and slammed the door closed on that big bug's face. Then I used some of the Kainde amedha's blood left in that pipe to cauterize that cut. It was pretty deep you know. I kept you from loosing too much blood but keep an eye on it, it might tear open again, or become infected."

She reached out her small hand to examine my arm. Her warm hand felt odd on my skin, but I did not pull away.

"I guess another thank you is in order." I said. I did not like this Ooman always doing me favours. I felt in debt to her now. Something a true warrior should never feel towards their prey. 

"Well, let's not be too enthusiastic about it now" Tar'lain said as she smiled brilliantly at me. 

"So um, where is this thing headed anyways?" She said as she got up and looked out the small pod window.

"Well, escape pods are designed to land on the nearest inhabitable planet, then send out a deep space distress beacon. The nearest Yautja ship will then hone in on it and pick us up. There is enough supplied on the vessel to allow for three Yautja to survive for two of your Ooman weeks." 

I stood up and went to the small display screen. We were traveling at one hundred times the speed of light towards a small planet called _Thresmos_. The Yautja had found it many cycles ago, but because of it's small size and small wild life, there was really not much interest in the planet. Generally if there is nothing worthy of a hunt, then the Yautja ignore it. 

The time of arrival was less than seventeen hours. I could use a bit more sleep anyways.

"Tar'lain, we will arrive at the planet in lass than a day, where we will land and wait for a rescue ship to come. It shouldn't take more than one week because the planet is in an area well travelled by the Yautja. There are no large life forms on the planet to pose a threat to us, only creatures similar to an earth rat in size and…."

She seemed to not be listening to me at all. She continued to stare out the window with a strange look on her face.

"Jar'rok?" she said suddenly. "What is going to happen to me? I mean, after the other Yautja come. I know that I am not exactly considered an equal among your people. Will they…."

"No." I cut her off firmly, almost angrily, before she could finish. "I won't let them harm you."

My sudden outburst caught me off guard. Embarrassment caused me to turn away from her. _Say something, quick_! 

"The doctor made me promise to take care of you. He said you were special. I'm taking you to see his brother on the home world."

I turned back to her so see if she had caught on to my protective comment. She seemed to not have noticed. Instead she seemed confused.

"How am I special to a Yautja?" she asked.

I thought about it for a minute. It really didn't make sense at all. An Ooman was in no way of any importance to the Yautja unless their skull was hanging from their walls. The ultimate prey. That was it. It just didn't make sense.

"I suppose, all in due time, we will find out. I really have no idea what he could have been talking about." I said. "But in the mean time, let's get some more sleep before we land on the planet. There will be much to do when we arrive as far as setting up a camp goes."

Tar'lain looked at me, still with a troubled look in her eye, but she turned away from the window and sat down on the floor next to me, our backs against the bulkhead of the ship.

"Jar'rok?" she said, looking up to me. "Thanks for being so nice to me. I know that you don't have to be. From your memories I know very well exactly how your kind feel towards mine."

I cringed when she said this. She was right, through my memories she saw what I had done, and what other's of my hunting parties have done, to the Oomans. I didn't know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut. It was embarrassing and made me feel uncomfortable to know that she had seen, through my eyes, those kinds of things. 

"It's okay, Jar'rok, I understand. Humans do the same to creatures on our planet, why should I hold my species above any other? Humans are worse in a way though. They hurt and kill each other every day in mindless fights and wars over trivial things. It's sad, really. We think we are the smartest creatures on the planet, yet we are the ones that are destroying it - and ourselves…" she trailed off in thought. 

I was impressed with her views and insight on her own species. It takes a lot of courage to swallow one's pride and admit to their faults. The Yautja were never really any good at that.

"Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that you're pretty much the closest thing to a friend that I've ever had in my entire life. Thank you" She lowered her head and leaned onto my side. 

I let her lay there against me, slowly drifting off to sleep. It seemed so strange to be sitting there like that with an Ooman girl, but for some reason I didn't really mind it. It must have been the exhaustion. Or perhaps I really was….

I shoved the idea out of my mind before it even got in there. This was getting ridiculous. I didn't even know my own feelings any more. Was it pure instinct that was telling me to protect the girl, or something….more?

I quickly blamed it on instinct and, slightly more reassured, I settled down to sleep.

Tar'lain moved in her sleep, switching positions. She turned her back towards me and leaned into me, then slid down onto the floor. She then turned onto her side and huffed. 

She opened her eyes.

"I can't sleep this is so uncomfortable, the floor is hard and the wall is hard. This sucks" she pouted.

"Well you could always just stand until we get there" I said jokingly.

She shot me a glare and then a smile. "Sorry, I've never really liked to travel. It's boring."

She then sprawled herself out on the floor next to me, lying on her front, with her head resting on one of her arms. 

It was then that I noticed it. I hadn't before because her long hair covered it. There, on the back of her neck, right along where her long hair started, was an unmistakable mark. A small symbol etched into the flesh with the blood of the kainde amedha.

"Tar'lain! _You've been __**blooded**_!!"


End file.
